


Daffodils&Red Dahlias

by ApeironStella



Category: Pandora Hearts
Genre: Decapitation, Kinda, Leo is full of surprises in this AU pals, M/M, Psychological Horror, This is all PH kink meme's fault, and also Alex's, does this even count as a ship fic?, or I would assume so?, she was the one who said it would make a good one shot so here we fucking go, somewhat mild gore at the start but rest is mostly just good old, yandere!Leo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-07 02:19:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14661315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApeironStella/pseuds/ApeironStella
Summary: (He doesn't know, how long he stands there. He doesn't know how long he just keeps his eyes on the scene, on the- beheading, carried out by a dagger, a dagger he had never seen because it doesn't have their family crest dangling from the hilt, as the executioner takes his sweet time behind messy, black locks that defy the laws of gravity in their disarray, unaware of the piercing blue eyes that can't tear themselves from the scene, behind his back.)Or, Yandere Leo truly is a scary force of nature.





	Daffodils&Red Dahlias

This is not happening.  
  
This is _not_ happening.  
  
He _refuses_ to believe that this _is_ happening.  
  
It can't be.  
  
It _can't_ be.  
  
_And yet--_

  
A sickening squelch tears through the silence. Accompanied by a sigh, as now the noise of a sharp blade cutting through the bone gives way to nauseating sound of flesh, being torn apart, cut through easily as if it was a hot knife slicing its' way through the butter, as if it was just a scrap of paper being shredded by a pair of scissors, echoing through the room and through his mind as a low hum starts to dance around the corners of his mind, all with the carefree attitude of a child popping the head of one of their beloved dolls.  
  
Blood long stopped spraying out in waves. Instead, most of it is now crusty, tainting and turning platinum blonde strings into a murky brown. The smell of iron is heavy, heavier than lavenders in the vase, on the desk around the corner, replaced daily to keep the smell fresh.  
  
He can't move. He can't move _at all_ , and he is sure, if he _could_ , he would be throwing up.  
  
He doesn't know, how long he stands there. He doesn't know how long he just keeps his eyes on the scene, on the- **_beheading_** , carried out by a dagger, a dagger he had never seen because it doesn't have their family crest dangling from the hilt, as the _executioner_ takes his sweet time behind messy, black locks that defy the laws of gravity in their disarray, unaware of the piercing blue eyes that can't tear themselves from the scene, behind his back.  
  
Piercing blue meets foggy, almost gray blue.  
  
He should be doing something.  
  
He should be _doing something._

**_\--Thunk._ **

The head falls to the ground unceremoniously.  
  
It is silent. The _executioner,_ with his messy jet black hair, picks a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wipes his cheek, checking to see if there was any spill from the spray of blood over him. Then, he wipes his hand with it before placing the now sticky dagger inside it, wrapping it around without any urgency.  
  
"Haah... This was a nice carpet too..."  
  
He can't find his voice. He can't find his voice at all, because the _executioner-_ **_the Headhunter_** , stands up from his spot carefully, paying attention to not step on any patch of mostly dried blood, lest he leaves evidence. He looks out from the window, almost opaque surface of his glasses hiding his expression as the man let's out an _"Oh"._  
  
The sun is already setting, and vermillion covers crimson stained room, making the heinous crime scene look even more straight out of one of his worse nightmares.  
  
"It should be about dinner time."  
  
The man mutters, turning to leave the room---

\--only to come across the now frozen blue with a disbelieving expression, with hints of hurt and betrayal lingering around the corners of his eyes, clinging to teardrops he had not yet let fall.  
  
"--Elliot?"  
  
There is confusion, panic. _Recognition._  
  
This _can't be real._  
  
Leo looks at the corpse and back at him, opening and closing his mouth a few times as he searches for the words, his mouth tightening in a worried expression, expression of a child that stole a cookie and doesn't want to get caught _now,_ but this does not make sense at all because _this_ is nowhere near stealing a goddamn sweet.  
  
_"Why?"_ His voice is hoarse, he realizes, somewhere at the back of his mind. It is choked, with tears that refuses to fall, yet now the betrayal is clear. It hasn't sunken in just yet, not enough for him to go into a flying rage, but he can feel it build, in his gut, build and _build and **build-**_  
  
"I- I can explain-"  
  
_"Explain **what?"**_ It is harsher, harsher than his previous question and now he feels the **_rage_** , his body shaking with the blinding rage as he launches himself forward and pulls the collar of the goddamn _coward, the traitor, **the Headhunter-**_  
  
"Ouch- That _hurt_ , Elliot!"  
  
His entire body is tremoring as he realizes that he had slammed the bastard to the bookshelf behind him, knocking the air out of his lungs for a moment as all he sees is **_red._**  
  
**_"WHY!?"_** he **roars,** his hands a step away from-

-another pair of hands lay on his shaking ones. Calmly. Gently _. Shaky_.  
  
"Calm down. It is alright."  
  
He feels sick down to bottom of his stomach. How dare- How dare he. Telling him to _calm down._ Telling him it was just _fine and peachy-_ Telling him-  
  
_"Shut up!"_ he hisses, _growls,_ grinding his teeth. How dare he. How _dare_ he.  
  
**_How dare he._**  
  
_"How can you **\- How** -"_  
  
"-if I didn't do it, they would have killed me, by now. They were planning to arson the manor after having you, your mother and your sister escape together, so they could take care of me and your adoptive brothers for once and all. I just happened to overhear this as I was going to the library."  
  
Calm. He was so calm, _far too calm_ for someone who almost had hands on his throat. His hold wasn't trying to tear his hands away, from his collar, in a frenzy, but they were gentle. _Soft_. A warmth draped over his own fingers, rather than a _struggle_.

Wrong.  
  
_This was all wrong._  
  
He shouldn't be-  
  
_Leo_ shouldn't be speaking about murdering his brothers as if it was something like borrowing an umbrella on a rainy day-  
  
As if he was expecting him to _understand._  
  
As if he was thinking that this was the _only natural course of action._  
  
As if he was thinking what he did was **_obviously_** _right._

"You could have _told me_. You could have told _us_ , you _didn't_ have to--"  
  
Leo shakes his head, cupping the trembling _-from anger, pain, betrayal-_ hands of his between his own smaller ones still.  
  
"They wouldn't have given up just by that."  
  
"You _can't_ know that-"  
  
"But I _do_. This is not the first time they tried it, really."  
  
If he was boiling like an overheated pot, left in the fireplace for far longer than necessary, then now he felt like he was abruptly thrown into an icy lake.  
  
"...What did you say?"  
  
"Hm? That this wouldn't be the first attempt they had on my life? Mr. Gilbert's and Mr. Vincent's lives as well, from what I've observed."  
  
His stomach twists in a knot. "They- They wouldn't do such a thing-"  
  
"Then how do you explain _both_ Mr.Vincent and Mr.Gilbert becoming _poisoned_ from the food they _supposedly_ ate with everyone else, _at least_ once?"  
  
"That's- Wait. I... I did not know about that-"  
  
"You weren't _supposed_ to know. Your siblings didn't want you to know, and they made sure that they even sealed maids' mouths for good, by threatening them with losing their jobs if they spilled it around you, _ever_."  
  
"Why would they- Then why didn't _you_ -"  
  
"Tell you? Because you wouldn't believe it, just like you don't, right now."  
  
And just like that, he feels his -righteous- anger draining from him as his hand starts to lessen around Leo's collar. He... They...

 _He can remember, learning how to make traps from Claude, when one day he took him with him as he went for hunting, and he had failed miserably at first, only to catch a rabbit years later when they went together again, but in the end, he had lied that the rabbit had ran away while he was not looking, and Claude had just patted his head, saying that it was unfortunate, while they watched the animal run away._  
  
_He can remember, Ernest plopping him up on his shoulders, carrying him around as he had his trusty wooden sword thrust forward, telling him to go onwards, they had a dragon to defeat, only for Ernest to laugh and walk with larger strides than usual, Vanessa commenting from the side that dragon most likely had some nice jewelry in his stash as well, so bring your big sister some souvenirs when you return to this kingdom, from the far, far away lands you two venture on, will you?_  
  
_He can remember, the usually busy Fred, who had the honour of being the heir at the time, and was always, always busy, but he sometimes would find time to come and read him a bed time story, when he wasn't too busy by some paperwork or playing chess with Claude, Elliot cheering for both of them as Ernest would say that he should place his bet on Fred, for Claude wasn't really good at such games, which would prompt a sour expression from said man, as Ernest would laugh._  
  
_He can remember... fuzzy as they were, being rather old memories, most of them, that they were always gentle. **Protective**. Sometimes a bit rough and harsh, but that was only to be expected, as it was necessary for nobleman of their strata. Could..._

Could they... **_really_** do something like that?

As his grip lessens, he feels Leo's hands intertwining with his, pulling their hands closer to himself. "...I'm sorry."  
  
Elliot still can't see his eyes, can't see if his words are sincere or not, but they _do_ sound sincere. Sound _sad_. But...  
  
"...for _what_?"  
  
"For you having to find out about this. What your brothers did, as you wouldn't want to... know about such things. It would have been better, for you to remember them as they were in your memories."  
  
Leo is brushing his lips against one of his hands' knuckles as he says so, continuing with that still upset, sincere voice, and Elliot knows that he means this.  
  
"...Stop it."  
  
Leo hums against his hand, tilting his head slightly as he looks at him puzzled, _a smear of--_

Elliot jerks his hands away from him, as if suddenly jerked awake from a dream, from _the haze_ , stepping back more than he means to, and feels his anger return to him again, realizing _\- realizing that-  
  
**"Stay away from me!"**_  
  
It is cold, as cold as the icy lake he felt himself being thrown in. As cold as his veins, ones that froze as he truly _, truly_ wraps his mind around the fact that Leo, _Leo, his servant- **his friend** \- is-_  
  
_"You are... **the Headhunter**."_

Only response Leo has for that is a frown.  
  
"I suppose... We can't just forget this, after all?" it sounds... dejected, disappointed. _As if-  
  
_ As if he expects him to-  
  
As if he sincerely hopes and thinks that Elliot would, _could_ brush the fact that **_he killed half of his family_** aside, just like that.  
  
He is seeing **_red_** again.  
  
This time, he finds himself pushing that _\- that bastard, that **traitor**_ **-** _that- that **maniac**_ to the the wall, his right arm and elbow trapping him by the neck as said boy lets out a hiss of pain at the abrupt shove.  
  
" _Ow_! You know, I would appreciate it if you didn't-"  
  
**_"SHUT UP! SHUT UP. JUST. SHUT! UP!"_**

His punch lands on the wall next to his neck, just _barely_ grazing the side of his cheek and even Elliot can hear the _cracking_ noise from there, though, he is not sure if the sound came from his wrist or Leo's now fallen glasses. Purple eyes widen only for a moment, panicking for a second at being seen, but it all so quickly passes and a frown is taking its' place on his face. Elliot is **_furious._**  
  
**"Just who-- _WHO_ do you think you are _!? YOU-- YOU_ \-- You--"**  
  
...He doesn't even know _what_ to say to him. He doesn't even know if there _is anything_ to say to him. He doesn't even know if it _matters_. He doesn't-- There are-- He-- _This--  
  
_ And there is a frown on Leo's face, again, a concerned one. Slim hands aim for his fist, the one he can now dully start to feel the sharp pain of. They are gentle- still gentle, and purple eyes with those goddamned beautiful golden lights flickering inside them, look slightly pained, but most importantly- **_worried._**  
  
They look worried and Leo is trying to look at his fist, to see how badly it was damaged, even from this position. Worried. _For him_. While he has him pressed to the wall, leaving barely any room to _breathe_. **_Screaming at him on top of his lungs._** It doesn't...  
  
It doesn't register _at all._  
  
**_At all.  
  
_**

He lets him go. He draws back his fist from his prodding, careful hands. If he listens carefully, he can almost hear something inside him _break_ , though he doesn't know what, but he certainly knows that it is not the throb on his left wrist, and that it leaves his mind buzzing. He simply stares, for a moment, to nothing in particular.  
  
"Elliot..?"  
  
Leo tries to reach again, for his wrist, and he just pushes him back to the wall, watches as Leo sinks to the ground.  
  
"Stay here. I will--" _I will contact the Pandora_ , he thinks, but doesn't say, yet from the searching look Leo is giving to him, he is honestly not sure if he can tell, even with how empty his expression must be, right now. How _tired_ he must look.  
  
He rotates towards the door, trying to think where the key to this room could-- And he has to put his right wrist over his mouth, as _he- As **Ernest** \- **His body-**_  
  
He swallows down the bile in his throat, blinking back the tears as he walks at a quicker pace--

  
  
**_"--Wait!"_** Leo is clinging to his probably-broken-or-cracked wrist, which gets a hiss out of him, and his hands automatically shift to his arm at that, not wanting to hurt him further.  
  
_"Wait."_ Leo repeats, with a plea to it, desperate. Elliot tries to tear his arm away from him, turning to him with flaming eyes, shaking his left arm violently to get it off despite how that just makes the pain even worse, but Leo is clinging to his arm as if he is clinging to him for dear life.  
  
"You ** _can't_** go! Not--" It is painful, the grip Leo has on his arm. Now, it _is_ frantic, alarmed, _scared._ Not when Elliot is threatening him with an inch of his life. _Only_ when he is trying to **_leave_**. **_"Let me go, you--"_**  
  
_"No! I can't-- I can't lose you, **again**!"_

  
  
He freezes for a moment, turning back to the shorter male with a confused, but guarded look. "What do you mean, _again_?"  
  
And Leo looks surprised, _hopeful_ , he is stumbling on his words as he speaks. "I- I meant that- When you first met Oz, you must have- You must have felt _that_ too. _That feeling_. As if you knew him already, despite never meeting once."

 ** _"Let me--"_** words left Elliot as he tenses at Leo's words, his eyes widening and then narrowing down, as he stares at the eyes claimed by the golden lights. _"...how do you-"  
  
_ "It is-- It is _souls_ recognizing each other." Purple is staring into icy blue, asking to listen _further, to give a chance, to-  
_  
"--souls? What-"  
  
"You- You know the rumors that Oz Vessalius is the reincarnation of the _Hero of the Sablier_ , Jack Vessalius, right?"  
  
"What does _that_ has to do with anything? It is just a rumor."  
  
"It is _not._ Though... It is not _entirely_ correct either."

  
  
At that, Elliot is _staring_ at him. As if trying to tell if he was _lying_ to him- or rather, just _how much_ he was lying to him, and how much of it _he truly believed_. "...Huh?"  
  
Leo swallows, at Elliot's doubtful, questioning his sanity look, he can't help but stray his eyes away.  
  
"He has some _... fragments_ , of Jack's soul, or whatever was left of his soul, really. For me, it is the Glen's... _his_ soul, though it is a bit more complicated than that. And... as for _yours_..."  
  
"...what about _my_ soul?" Elliot bites, eventually, after waiting for a while for him to continue, so he can be done with... **_this_** , sooner. Leo fidgets slightly, shifting his weight from one foot to another.  
  
"It is _his sister's_. Part of it, at least. Her soul... was rather scattered as well. ...more appropiately, _shredded_. It is a wonder that even such a piece of it could survive long enough for you to find it. You... said that, your father used to bring you to **_Sablier_** , when you were a child, didn't you? Did you.. ever went into the **_chasm_** , perhaps?"  
  
Elliot stiffens. He-

  
  
Does he truly have _no shame_?

  
  
“That's---- Do you _even realize how_.... ** _insane_** you sound right now? You... Tell me this is a _truly bad attempt at lying._ " He asks, **orders** , because he is acutely aware that his - **old-** bestfriend is wrong in the head in _more than one ways_. But he **_hopes_**...  
  
...It is a sincere expression. He feels a lump sit on his throat. Leo swallows again, his eyes again falling to sideway.  
  
"...It is fine if you think so. It most likely is. Or not." he mutters, still not releasing his arm. "...It is fine if you think it is crazy, and don't believe any of it at all. This still doesn't change the fact that I'm _technically_ the **_Glen,_** or that I can sense that soul piece."  
  
_He is bonkers_. If Elliot hadn't already thought so, with all that happened in last-- half hour? Hour? Who knows?- Then... Then he is certain now. In response, Leo laughs a little, a hollow laugh.  
  
"So? What will you do now then? Kill me to avenge your brothers? Or hand me to Pandora authorities to 'serve justice' and all? Both would be quite troublesome,really...."  
  
And he speaks about it _so lightly_ , if quietly, as if.... As if it was just weather, or they were talking about some book, picking a stray hair from his collar.  
  
**How.**

 **  
  
** This is the part that doesn't compute in Elliot's mind, that.... that he can take this _so lightly_ , as if both were mere _chores_ , or sounds far too unrealistic to him that he doesn't even _bother_ to get worried about them.  
  
"I-- I will--" and he will, what, exactly? Hand him to Pandora, after all? That's... that's probably for the better, for everyone involved. He should have realized this.  
  
_He should have seen this._  
  
The lump on his throat, still there, makes it harder to talk.  
  
"...I will hand you to Pandora." it really should have sounded **_a lot_** more angry than this, rightfully so, but part of him still wonders if this is some sort of weird dream.  
  
It is not that he hadn't seen weirder and more disturbing things before, really.  
  
And in response, getting a small chuckle as Leo gets up, only now bothering to pick himself up to feet after Elliot dropped him, shaking his head slightly with saying "You truly are far too kind for your own goodness, you know?" with a some kind of soft, exasperated fondness wasn't what should be happening either.  
  
His mouth is dry. ".. _that's it?_ You will... just _come?_ " There is something _seriously_ wrong.

 

 _Deadly_ wrong.

 

He doesn't know _what._

 

But this is _plain wrong._

 

" _Mmm..._ fighting with you would be exhausting, too. Besides, it wouldn't be _fair_ , with your hand being hurt.  ...So. Shall we go, then, _Master_?"  
  
The way he says it so _sweetly_ , mockingly _genuine_ , makes him feel sicker, somehow. His right hand is at the hilt of his sword, for he is expecting something _, anything_ , this can't be it. This just _can't_ be it, can it?  
  
And there is that stupid, unfitting even for his usual antics tilt again, as Leo " _oh"s_ as he always did when something dawned on him, placing his hands ahead with a smile. "You would feel safer if you bind them, probably."  
  
...If that's a trick, Elliot isn't sure what he has to gain from it. Getting him drop his guard? Most likely. But even then... ...even then, he _would_ feel safer, after all, and in some part inside his heart, he feels something _ache_ , at the realization of how he _doesn't trust him at all_ \- Had it been just a few hours ago, the idea of tying Leo to feel safe would have been **_ridiculous._**

  
Yet, when he ties his wrists, with his own left wrist protesting at all the twisting and pull despite him ignoring it for the moment, with his guard still completely up, alert at every small random move but Leo is, uncharacteristically, obediently _still_ as he probably ties them a bit tighter than they need to be, just... just to be **_sure._**  
  
Leo's amused smile throughout it all, as he finishes tying them, trying to pull them apart a bit and _complimenting him on knowing how to tie rather tight knots_ , saying he recalls him mentioning that it was Claude who taught him how to make such tight knots for the traps, is the thing that gets him.  
  
**_"What is your problem?"_  
  
**_"Hmm?"_ **  
  
** "Stop... Stop smiling like _that-!"_ **  
  
** Leo blinks at that. "Smiling like _what_?" **  
  
** "Like--- Like as if this is all a _sick, amusing game_ to you. **_Stop it_**." Elliot grits his teeth, for this, this entire thing... is driving him _nuts.  
  
_ "Ah, sorry. Didn't mean to be rude, you know. It is just that, it is far too amusing for me that you _actually_ believe that I would intentionally harm you."  
  
"Because you _wouldn't_ , just like you _wouldn't_ murder my brothers, saying it was _alright_ , _that things would be okay_?" and _oh_ , now it turns back to **_anger_** again.  
  
"I never said that I wouldn't do that." Leo points out, truly, still not grasping what was even **_wrong_** with what he did.  
  
"Then---"  
  
"I am just saying that, if I _actually_ wanted to kill you, I would have, years ago. Or just could have hooked the rope around your neck as you were tying me, really. Would have been a perfect trap."  
  
And _damn it all_ , Elliot now is **_furious_** because Leo throws him back off his feet the moment he gains some semblance of sense back again. _"Shut up **. Just shut up, already."**_

 

And maybe he is too rough as he pulls him outside the room, but Leo doesn't complain. Following obediently, like _a good dog a servant should be_ , except he was always _an unruly cat at his nature_ and Elliot feels like _he_ is the _prey_ this cat is toying with.  
  
Leo only pauses, once, as they are about to leave the mansion, almost at the front door, and turns to Elliot, seeming to hesitate. _"Are you **sure** about that?"_ and it is a question that is _far too late_ to be asked, and from _the wrong mouth_ , so Elliot ignores it and pushes him, not giving any reply. Which only earns him a sigh from his companion as he dips his head down. "I really didn't want to do this, you know."  
  
"...do _what?_ "  
  
**"Jabberwock."**

  
  
And as Elliot turns to the _black, enormous being with purple toxic fumes of flames coming from its mouth_ , unsheathing his sword---

 

 

\---the only thing he feels is a numb pain at the back of his head, as his consciousness fades.

**Author's Note:**

> I basically started to write this fic after seeing how many people asked for Elliot to be the one who inherited Lacie's soul after Leo turned out to be the Glen, and initially I was going to run with that. But as we kept talking with Alex (@AlexClaain), it kind of turned into an AU where Bernard took lil Elly to Sablier a lot earlier on and he got lost at the chasm at one point, and thus, a piece of Lacie's left soul that ended up there somehow fused with his soul from a young age. He most likely dreamed of golden lights at least once, and perhaps that's why he loves Leo's eyes so much, but partly.
> 
> I also loved the Headhunter!Leo headcanon so much as well so this was a...love child of all those hcs, really.
> 
> And it actually wasn't a major thing, but basically, with accepting the role of being the Glen/power of the Glen earlier on, Leo gained a secondary level of protectiveness towards Elliot not due to Humpty Dumpty but because Oswald's soul piece wants to protect what is left of Lacie as well. I assume that Leo would try to get Elliot see that he was the one who made the sensible choice after all, as he doesn't want him to be miserable but being caught is also a no-no. That's why he tried to use anything he could from mentioning the soul thing to distract him from his beheaded brother's corpse, but it of course didn't work out well at all.
> 
> I actually first wrote the ending of this, than the start and when Alex said that it would make a good one shot, and after 8 cups of coffee and two finals, I finally got this out lmao.
> 
> Will check for grammar/spelling mistakes or awkward things later, but if you guys want to lmk any mistakes you catch, you are always welcomed to point them out <333
> 
> Comments in general are appreciated, now I gotta eat dinner before I just go to be bed, sneepy sneeps y'all.
> 
> Ps. Leo knocked Elliot with hitting to his head with something preferably less likely to give the kid a concussion compared to Jabberwock, maybe like a stick or smth. Jabberwock was actually the distraction.


End file.
